Guv's Gardens
Photo: PierreSelim, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sun
- Full sun, warm
- Soil
- Rich, well-drained; good compost in pots
- Soil pH
- Slightly acid to neutral, pH 6.5-7.0 best
- Water
- Water regularly; do not let it dry out
- Hardiness
- Tender, RHS H1C
- Height and spread
- 45-90cm tall (range 30cm-1.1m), 15-45cm spread
Guv's tipWater chillies and peppers regularly, never let them dry out, or you'll invite blossom end rot. Pinch out the tips for bushiness.
Through the year
Timings are for the UK as a whole. Northern and exposed gardens often run a couple of weeks later.
When to plant
Sow indoors Jan-Feb with a heated propagator, otherwise Mar-Apr. Move to a greenhouse or plant out after frosts (late May-Jun)
Harvest or flowering
Harvest Jul-Oct
Pruning
Pinch out tips to encourage bushiness; stake
Making more plants
Seed
Watch out for
Aphids
Look for: Colonies of small green/black insects on shoot tips, sticky honeydew, distorted leaves
What to do: Squash or wash off, encourage ladybirds and other predators; insecticidal soap if severe
Glasshouse red spider mite
Look for: Fine mottling of leaves, fine webbing, leaf yellowing
What to do: Raise humidity, biological control Phytoseiulus persimilis under glass
Glasshouse whitefly
Look for: Tiny white flying insects under leaves, honeydew and sooty mould
What to do: Yellow sticky traps, biological control Encarsia formosa under glass
Grey mould
Botrytis cinereaLook for: Fuzzy grey mould on flowers, fruit or stems, rotting
What to do: Remove affected parts, improve ventilation, avoid overcrowding
Blossom end rot
Physiological (calcium deficiency from irregular watering)Look for: Dark sunken patch at fruit base
What to do: Water consistently
Always read and follow the label on any treatment, and check it is approved for use where you live.
Safety and spread
Pets and people: Not listed as poisonous by NC State University's plant toolbox or the Royal Horticultural Society. Edible fruit (capsaicin in hot chillies irritates skin and eyes)
Weed risk: Not listed as an invasive plant in Great Britain; tender, not invasive in the UK
Growing somewhere else? See this plant for the USA and Australia and Australia.
The Plant Doctor and the Guv's book
Printable pest and disease charts with real photographs, and all 50 UK plants in one book.
